John Hughes insists Rangers blueprint is best chance of Inverness Cup shock as he bigs up Beale's Celtic masterplan

Inverness Caley Scottish Cup winning boss John Hughes believes Michael Beale could help his old club to another Hampden glory day next month.

Hughes led the Highlanders to their greatest ever triumph in 2015 when they clinched the silverware in an end of season showpiece against Falkirk - after knocking the Parkhead giants out in the semis. And he believes current manager Billy Dodds could follow in his footsteps - if he copies the tactical blue print which Rangers boss Beale used against the champions at Ibrox when his side romped to victory in the final Old Firm game of the season.

Speaking in the latest episode of our Off the Record podcast the former Celtic defender reveals how the penny dropped as he went about his duties as a co-commentator during Beale’s 3-0 win. Hughes said: “Do you want to know something? All good coaches, we all copy. You pick each other’s pockets.

“People might not put their hand up to it and say, ‘I copied him,’. But that’s how you become a good coach. Get your ego out the way. I’ve picked his brains, I’ve done what he has done. He actually helped me tactically.

“I was sitting at that game and that’s exactly what I was thinking. I was sitting saying, ‘If I was Billy Dodds, I wouldn’t be too far away from doing what Michael Beale has done today’. He got that four v three overload with Jack, Raskin, Cantwell and Lundstram against a three man midfield. So it was four v three in the middle.

“I was on co-commentary and I’m not going to tell Ange how to do what he does. But see when Celtic had the ball? If the full-backs went high and wide then Celtic have got a five v four overload! But the Celtic full-backs played in the way. You’re talking about Ralston going in and basically saying to